Heroes: Shattered Crane
by lilithtorch2
Summary: In a world where people with superpowers are executed, a vice president of a biotechnology company reflects on her past and confronts a mysterious time traveler.


The green bottle of sherry was tilted to the side, spewing out crimson liquid into a wine flute. The liquid splashed against its reflection, whispering soft unknowing words to the air. The wine was poured just enough that it seemed ready to overflow, but not quite, and long slender fingers curled themselves against the middle of the glass, and carried the drink to cherry lips. The dark haired woman of thirty sipped the drink slowly; her blue eyes slanted downward, her silky raven hair rested behind her ears. She paused, the corners of her lips curled downward into a frown. The woman was still, unmoving.

Without warning, the woman burst upward, and the flute flew sideways forcefully, leaving a cascade of red in its wake. A crash, and then sounds of shattered pieces as the bottle slammed against an innocent display case of glass miniatures. Unscathed, the bottle landed gently on the ground, liquid still pouring from its opening, coloring the marble floor in blood. For five seconds the woman stood there, her face slanted downward, toward the floor, her hands pressed taut against the side of the table. The woman's body shook before she quickly regained her senses, shaking her head nervously. Coolly, calmly, she picked up the wine bottle and poured what was left of it into another flute. She would clean the mess later.

The woman in question was Valerie Crane, vice president of BioTech, Inc., a research corporation located in New York. For years, she had been trying to keep everything under control. She had to put on a nice, confident face. She had to control it all: her emotions, her abilities, and her past. To do otherwise would only distract her.

It felt like so many years ago, it felt like yesterday. Her family, a scientist father and a doctor mother, had finally learned the fatal truth about their cherished daughter and beloved only child: she was special.

Walking into that dreaded room, seeing those dreaded horn-rimmed glasses. _It won't turn purple it won't turn purple it won't turn purple please don't turn purple please please please. _But the man in the horn-rimmed glasses only shook his head gloomily.

"What do I do?" Valerie remembered asking, panicked.

_Stay calm. _Then she'd be able to get her driver's license, to vote, and to live her supposedly normal life. For as long as possible, no one would find out about her.

_No one._

Valerie sighed; her thoughts always zeroed in on the one question that always bothered her no matter what she was doing.

_What if the explosion never happened?_

She never did care about the fact that she was special. Under other circumstances, she would have been able to hide it from everyone with great care. Still… she would never have traded in this life for a boring, dull one, even if it meant having to go through the pain.

It had started out small, as an untreatable skin condition on her right arm. Valerie recalled the moment when it was nearly over for her, about three months after finding out that she was special. It was at the state zoo, in-what else?-the bird exhibit. She was walking there, chatting with her girlfriends about the cute new boy, while their best friend Todd rolled his eyes as he listened to them drone on and on. When they had taken step into the room, she could hear the birds. All of them, screaming, yelling. Wanting freedom, never tasting it. Never knowing, really. Afraid. Needing food, but scared of humans. Scared of cages. All at the same time.

_"Are you okay?"_

Overwhelmed. So many things being said. She couldn't process them all. And then there was Todd, suddenly covering her arms with his coat.

_"What's going on?"_

_"Something's happening to you."_

An assuring voice to everyone else that it would be fine. Then arms carrying her to someplace empty, where no one would find her.

A serious face. _"How long?"_

_"How long? What do you mean?"_ _Oh no. The ability! She tried to feign innocence. "What are you talking about?"_

_"This." He took the coat away from her. She gasped; feathers were emerging from the bottom of her arms. "I had to cover them up before they turned into wings."_

She had always been trying to set the memory aside, to accept it. But in this oppressed nation, how could she? Everyone like her, dying. A small part of herself wanted to weep; she couldn't. All she could do was close her eyes tightly and shed a single tear. It had been six years since then.

_Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Ready or not, here I come… Here I come…_

The numbers echoed in her mind, melting into her until it spread and consumed her with grief. It didn't matter that she was beautiful, it didn't matter that she'd been able to escape the hands of The Company.

_She couldn't save him._

Her parrot chattered alarmingly, disrupting her thoughts. She moved to the center of her apartment and scanned the place. "What's wrong?" she asked the bird, listening for a response. She instinctively knew what the bird was telling her and looked around warily. Tensely. The bird had warned of an intruder. Millions of thoughts jumbled together. _Who? Do they know where I am?_ The persona of cool and confident professional, Valerie Crane, dissolved into scared little sixteen year-old Brianna. She wrapped her nervous fingers around the hilt of a knife and scanned the room, paralyzed.

Sudden movement. Shadows. Something there, but nothing there.

"Do not move," whispered the voice behind her sternly.

She paused, feeling the tip of something pressed against her back. She analyzed the voice. It was male, serious. Sad, even, as though it had seen too much, heard too much, and wanted to rest. Only, it would not stop.

"You have worries," the male observed. "I know how to solve them."

At the word 'worries,' the woman nearly choked. She quickly collected herself."I have no worries," the woman proudly protested, her Valerie Crane persona taking over again.

"You have been searching for someone," the voice insisted, explaining, "Guilt is as a part of you as it is mine. Only mine is irreparable; yours, you still have a chance."

The woman hesitated. "Guilt?" she whispered.

"I have reason to believe that the person you seek is alive," the male said simply.

_"Do you trust me?"_

Memories seeping into her mind again. Reliving the pain.

_"GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"_

_"What's going on?"_

_"Do I have to explain everything to you?"_

_The boy grabbed hold of her hand and ran._

_"Where are we going?"_

_"Away from here."_

"And who would this person be?" Not wanting to remember. Just move on, just look ahead. Can't-

"Six years ago."

Each word a stab.

"Manipulation of liquid. Does that ring a bell?"

_The boy broke free of the man trying to cuff him, the air in his hands turning into a ball of water vapor. He slammed it into the man's chest, and the man drowned immediately. He held the other officer tightly, and she watched as the officer dried up like a raisin in the sun, and dissolved into nothing but sand._

She said nothing.

"Carnival. May 3."

_She looked around, panicked, watching the boy fending off the officers. She didn't realize that she was asking the crows for help, and suddenly, there they were. "Caw! Caw!" The night sky blackened with the dark feathers of the crows, which had flown to Valerie's aid. In the confusion shapeshifters and elementals alike took the advantage to flee. The troops were dispersed everywhere, trying to arrest them, while the rest watched the skies, dazed, the blackened feathers surrounding them like snow._

_"Hurry up and get out, Bri!"_

_"But Todd-"_

_The water shifted under her feet, sending her into the sky. Instinctively, she did the only thing she could. The last she heard from Todd was one word: Fly._

"How would _you_ know?" Brianna asked bitterly, still refusing to shed any more tears. There had been too many of them. Todd had probably been executed now.

"I know everything."

"Then why weren't you there to help?"

"I can't answer that for you," the man replied remorsefully.

She whirled around angrily, stabbing the man hard, tears finally streaming down her flushed cheeks.

But there was nothing there but air, except for one small paper crane innocently hanging from the ceiling. And a curious knock on the door. Carefully, Valerie made her way to the door, hoping it wasn't one of President Petrelli's officers.

And looked up in surprise.

They both stared at each other for the longest time, trying to figure out what was going on.

The man broke the silence first. "Someone, ah, told me to find this address," he said simply, his face seeming stricken. "He left this…"

He held a paper crane in his hand.

Surprised, the woman showed him her own paper crane. "He told me you… you're…"

"Right here."

"Another happy ending, Hiro?"

Hiro Nakamura, hardened from years and years of battles, had been standing outside the woman's apartment, looking in at the scene through the crisscrossed windows. He watched the woman, struggling with herself before she crumpled into a heap in her friend's arms. This woman, who had been trying to keep up her identity as the strong-willed Valerie Crane, had finally let go of everything and returned to her true self. She was reunited with her best friend after so many years of waiting. There would be lots of catching up to do between the two, Hiro knew.

But for Hiro, there was no chance for catching up anymore. The people he'd loved had died: Charlie, by Gabriel Sylar's hand; Ando, from the explosion; and his own father, from one of Charles Linderman's men. He stared at what he could never have, and thought of better days, when he'd first discovered his ability. Even though he would never have his own happy ending, maybe he could make fairy tale endings happen for his fellow kind. So instead of telling Peter Petrelli what he truly felt, he merely agreed with his companion and nodded seriously.

"Yes."


End file.
